In anticipation of today’s scheduled vote on the MORE Act by the U.S. House of Representatives, the Biden Administration just announced that cannabis is now decriminalized, and that all federal cannabis convictions are hereby expunged. Actually, none of that is true. Sorry! It's what passes for an April Fools joke here at the Canna Law
During a recent interview, Puerto Rico Sen. Joanne Rodríguez Veve (of the conservative Proyecto Dignidad) expressed her misgivings about the legalization of adult-use cannabis. As I have made clear before on this blog, Puerto Rico's failure to fully legalize cannabis strikes me as dreadfully self-defeating. At a time when the island is in dire need
This past weekend, I was finally able to attend the renowned International Cannabis Business Conference (ICBC) here in Barcelona, Spain. The event had been cancelled for two consecutive years due to the pandemic. I attended interesting panels on everything from cannabis 3.0, to cannatech, to the current challenges of cannabis clubs in Spain. I want
The creation of New York's conditional adult-use retail dispensary license has made headlines. Although New York plans to issue only 50-100 of this new license type, the license type and its underlying rules and regulations is incredibly significant. Why? First, because the OCM and CCB have issued actual rules and regulations that will apply to
California Cannabis provisional licensing is beginning its wind down process at the end of this month. Here is what's happening: Until June 30, 2022, with certain exceptions, the Department of Cannabis Control ("DCC") may issue provisional licenses only if applicants submit a complete annual cannabis license application with the corresponding fee on or before March
The California Department of Cannabis Control ("DCC") is undertaking new cannabis rulemaking pursuant to the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act. Unlike other states, California hasn't implemented sweeping changes to its cannabis regulations with immense impacts on the industry. Instead, it has adopted a series of emergency rules with substantive changes here and
I've written a couple of times about the ongoing struggle that is the California cannabis tax situation, and I was recently on a great panel about the future of cannabis taxes in the country. California cannabis taxes are some of the highest in the U.S.. The situation seems to be, thankfully, evolving for the better
Cannabis purchase order financing is gaining speed in the industry. Because of robust state regulation, high operational costs, high taxes, and the federal illegality of marijuana, a lot of cannabis businesses struggle financially in their day to day business operations. Approaches to this problem takes various shapes and forms across the industry. There are threats
The 2022 Oregon legislative session kicks off today. It’s a short session this year, with fewer cannabis bills than usual crowding the docket. In 2021, for example, we had 28 enrolled bills to start; eventually, 10 became law. This year we start with only five enrolled bills. Those five submissions overlap in some cases, but
I started as a lawyer in the cannabis industry in 2010. Twelve years in there has been immense progress and maturation at the business level for cannabis licensees. This post is dedicated to the top ten list of which arrows all cannabis companies, regardless of state, size, culture, or market share, must have in their
